Golden Child Dazzles in First U.S. Tour

On the Fourth of July, most Americans spend their day celebrating the history of the country. This year, however, I spent my holiday in the modest Concord Music Hall, tucked in the nooks and crannies of the outskirts of downtown Chicago, celebrating something quite different: my first time seeing Golden Child.

Though the group has been stateside before thanks to KCON, the GOLDEN CHILD Meet & Live Tour In USA marked the first multiple-stop tour for the group in America. Regrettably, both for fans and Golden Child themselves, the concert did not include a full-blown tour setlist, but the group made sure to pack a punch with some of their greatest hits and crowd pleasers, and the promise that they would return with more.

A Scorching Performance

Thanks to the July summer heat and the close quarters, the venue was hot from the start, but temperatures went off the charts when Golden Child entered the stage with their spicy 2021 release, “Ra Pam Pam.” Dressed to the nines in dark blue military-inspired uniforms, the guys delivered sinfully sharp choreography as they showed off their very live vocals. “Ra Pam Pam” set the high-octane tone, sending a jolt of electricity through the already amped crowd, but that energy nearly doubled with the next song, “Burn It.” The song—one of the milestones of their career thanks in part to its cinematic masterpiece of a video—showed Golden Child at their most fantastical, with Joochan and Y hitting impossibly high notes with ease despite the involved choreography.

After a short intro where each member greeted the crowd and on behalf of missing members TAG and Daeyeol, the guys dialed things back with ballads “That Guy” and “I Know.” In spite of the stifling temperatures of the venue, the boys delivered flawless vocals. I’m never one to judge a K-Pop artist for relying on backing vocals (after all, they’re performing at superhuman levels none of us average joes could hope to achieve), but Golden Child blew me out of the water. If I hadn’t been able to hear the tell-tale signs of live singing, I would’ve thought the performances were straight from the recordings. Golden Child eats CDs for breakfast, confirmed.

The mood again shifted with a throwback to their 2017 debut with B-side “What Happened?” Showcasing their more buoyant side—one of the group’s biggest charms, in my opinion—they started to interact with the crowd more with this track; it was in this playful song that I fell victim to the power of Jangjun. The intensity of this man’s stage presence should never be underestimated (I had to learn that the hard way and, truth be told, I’m still feeling the aftershocks).

“Pump it Up” appropriately kept the energy up, and it was at this point that I started to be most impressed by the group. When I say the venue was hot, I mean it was hot. You could tell by the sweat streaking down their faces that the members were feeling the heat, and yet, they still gave their all. Just standing in the crowd was bad enough, and watching Golden Child still manage to sing, dance, and joke around to the best of their abilities despite the feverish temperatures had me in awe. Especially Jibeom: he was truly a performance powerhouse in this moment.

After a VCR that guaranteed the members a well-deserved break, the boys came back to the stage with a trifecta of title tracks: “WANNABE,” “Without U,” and “ONE(Lucid Dream).” Originally released as a sort of trilogy where Golden Child adjusted their sound and image for a more mature style, this was one of the highlights of the show. It’s my opinion that these three title tracks best demonstrate Golden Child’s skills as performers, and they certainly lived up to the hype. “WANNABE” was as explosive as could be, and the way the song softly winded down into the opening notes of “Without U” as the members got into formation was positively haunting. Without a moment’s pause, the track went right into “ONE(Lucid Dream).” Truthfully, there should have been no way for Golden Child to hit the falsettos in this song this late into the setlist, but they did so, and they did it perfectly. The only thing more impressive was seeing Jangjun, Y, and Donghyun’s dance break live.

A Special Night

At this point, the boys took another quick break to hydrate and connect with the crowd. Lamenting that they were not able to fit a full setlist into their repertoire, Golden Child began taking requests from the crowd, offering snippets of songs like “Genie,” “DDARA,” Cool Cool,” and “I Love U Crazy!” They then continued on with full performances of “OASIS” and English track “Bottom Of The Ocean,” bringing plenty of summer heat to the stage. While “OASIS” proved to be a more wholesome performance, Bomin came out full-force in “Bottom Of The Ocean,” flirting with the audience left and right. Whether in the front row or in the back corner, no fan was immune to this man’s charms.

The Chicago stop was special for Golden Child as it took place on the anniversary of the group’s first single album Goldenness, and as a treat for fans, they performed its title track “LET ME.” Replacing “SEA” in the original setlist, “LET ME” made the perfect addition to the summer night, yet again proving that Golden Child has some of the most infectious energy in K-Pop. Aside from feeling lucky to have witnessed the special set change, I was also thankful to have seen them perform “LET ME” as the song holds personal meaning for me: it was the first Golden Child release I ever reviewed for The Kraze.

Rounding out the main portion of the setlist were “Breathe” and “Crush.” Having performed for over two hours at this point, the boys were as vivacious as ever, especially Seungmin who kept the crowd engaged with enthusiastic adlibs until the very end. After a short break filled with booming cheers for an encore, Golden Child came back to the stage with their debut hit “DamDaDi.” As the video played along behind them, it was remarkable to watch the fresh-faced members of 2017 Golden Child dance alongside their 2022 counterparts. The boys still have that same contagious charm they had as rookies, but now they have the talents of five-year veterans in the industry. “DamDaDi” may be one of their most upbeat songs, but it was hard not to feel a little emotional at watching them perform it in the present day.

Before their last song, the boys took turns giving their final ments, especially Jaehyun who got to experience somewhat of a homecoming in the visit to Chicago. Having lived in Kenosha, Wisconsin for some of his childhood, the tour stop was only a little over an hour away from his old home. After recounting memories, he pointed out that his family was even in the crowd. This set the sentimental tone for the ending song of the night, “Milky Way.” Golden Child has a knack for releasing songs dedicated to their fans on almost every album, with “Milky Way” being one of their most heartfelt. With the boys and fans singing the, “Nothing without you,” line together, “Milky Way” felt like the only way to have brought the concert to a proper close.

Still Golden

I have been waiting a long time to see Golden Child live. I’ve been a fan since their debut in 2017, when I happened to catch their “DamDaDi” stages by chance while watching music shows for another group. It’s been a wonderful ride following the group all these years, watching them evolve into the versatile kings of K-Pop they are today. And I’m happy to say that they more than exceeded my expectations for seeing them live. I already knew these boys were talented, but they gave one of the most dynamic and explosive performances I’ve seen in my time being a K-Pop fan. Honestly, the only thing that could have made the show better was seeing them together as ten and for it to be a true, full concert. Hopefully, one day, these things will come true both for me and for Golden Child.

Before we were granted press access, I had originally bought myself a ticket, as I knew I would do whatever it took to see Golden Child live. After we got the go-ahead, I ended up giving my original ticket to mom so I wouldn’t be traversing Chicago alone at night. She’s a K-Pop fan in her own right, but she knew little of Golden Child. Though we stood in different places for the concert—she opted to sit against the back wall for comfort—she told me she had a great time and that I had been right: they were very talented. In our hotel room later that night, she kept asking questions about who was who, what position they were, which song was which. She even had her own little video of “DamDaDi” on her phone.

Golden Child, you put on an incredible show, one I’m happy to have finally seen. And I hope you enjoy your new 68-year-old mother of a Goldenness. We both look forward to seeing you again in the future.